BILL ANALYSIS Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair 867 (Nava) Hearing Date: 08/27/2009 Amended: 07/23/2009 Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 8-0 _________________________________________________________________ ____ BILL SUMMARY: AB 867 would authorize the California State University (CSU) to award a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The program would focus on the preparation of clinical faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing education programs and may also train nurses for advanced nursing practice or leadership. If CSU creates a degree pursuant to this bill, it would be required to report annually on the status of the program to the California Postsecondary Education Commission, the Legislative Analyst's Office, and legislative budget subcommittees. _________________________________________________________________ ____ Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund DNP Several hundred thousand to over General over a million, when program is fully implemented _________________________________________________________________ ____ STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. Current law defines the primary mission of CSU as providing undergraduate instruction and graduate instruction through the master's degree level. Current law also provides that CSU may offer doctoral programs jointly with the University of California or independent postsecondary institutions with the approval of the California Postsecondary Education Commission. CSU is currently authorized to offer a Doctor of Education degree focused on preparing administrative leaders for K-14 public schools. This bill would authorize CSU to award a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. The primary intent of the degree is to prepare faculty to teach in postsecondary nursing programs and thus help address California's nursing shortage. The bill provides that funding shall be within the enrollment growth provided in the annual Budget Act and would not alter the ratio of graduate instruction to total enrollment, and shall not diminish enrollment growth in undergraduate programs. There are a variety of reasons for the shortage, according to a June 2008 study by the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care (CINHC). While the CINHC indicates that a lack of educators is a problem, the study notes that entry level teaching salaries are only about half of what can be earned as clinical nurse with 20 years of experience. While the report identified seven critical areas for strategic nursing education redesign, additional DNP programs were not part of the recommendations. Similarly, a report by the California Board of Registered Nurses identifies a lack of clinical sites and uncompetitive faculty salaries as the significant barriers to nursing program expansion. Page 2 AB 867 (Nava) While many details would not be worked out prior to an actual implementation date, CSU has indicated that when fully ramped up there may be as many as 90 to 100 students in the program over three campuses. These students would cost approximately $800,000 in enrollment growth, if funded at the marginal cost rate. As doctoral education is generally more costly than undergraduate education, and nursing education is more expensive than many other areas, this estimate would understate the actual cost to the system, though. The relatively high costs to the system of serving these students will result in a shift from other programs. Additionally, CSU will likely incur startup and administrative costs that will lead to either higher expenditures or a shift from current program resources. Similar legislation, SB 1288 (Scott, 2008), was held by this committee last year.